Duel of the Unknown
by Tallbrain123
Summary: Alex Mercer, minding his own business (more or less), is noticed by Lord Vader as a source of great power. He decides that he wants to use Alex as a weapon, and sends his apprentice to collect him. [Complete]
1. Chapter 1 (Mercer Intro)

Well, here's my first fanfiction work. Chapter 2 will come...eventually...and it'll focus on Darth Vader's apprentice. They'll very likely meet in chapter 3. As a note, if you haven't played either the game Prototype I or The Force Unleashed I, there will likely be a few spoilers below. If you haven't played them, but don't want to, I tried to make it so that you could still enjoy it.

As for the ratings, I'm still a little new to that. I tried "T", because I avoid foul language and too much gore, but we're talking about the game "Prototype" here. That game is like God of War combined with Mortal Kombat.

* * *

Alex Mercer, or the creature that once consumed him, assimilating his DNA, memories, and personality, sat on the corner of a towering building in New York City. On the ground far below, hundreds of infected and mutated shells of humans stumbled around, trying to find something – or someone – to kill and consume, and only the gravest wounds could slow them. Overhead, two helicopters buzzed, on their way to some secret mission or other. Alex shook his head sullenly. A part of him would be appalled at what had become of New York – what he'd caused, acting in fear and cowardice and selfishness. But he didn't care anymore. The thousand voices in his head – people he'd killed and consumed – never stopped shouting, striving to be heard, to control him and regain their lost life.

But they couldn't. Alex Mercer was the first one consumed by Blacklight, and he was all the stronger for it. The virus, the disease that even now, threatened to destroy all of New York (and if it could, the whole world), enabled him to shapeshift completely or partially, forming anything, from weapons to armor to disguises, without harming himself at all. Of course, being able to survive gunshots and decapitation was quite the up-side.

He stood and stretched, looking down at the streets below. The drop was dizzying; anyone else's body would effectively turn to putty once they hit the bottom.

But not Alex Mercer.

He took a careless step forward and let himself fall, the ground rushing up to meet him. Instinctively, he braced himself for impact, hardening his entire skeleton like no ordinary human could. The impact still jarred him, but it also shattered the concrete, set off two different car alarms, crushed one hapless mutant, and sent at least three more flying across the street. Not even a full second later, he walked cockily out of the cloud of dust he'd created, brushing asphalt off of his shoulder.

It didn't take long for the Infected to react.

They rushed at him, sorely underestimating their opponent. Alex sent the first attacker across the street in a heap with just a palm hit to his chest. His chest was caved in; he didn't even stir.

"Don't do it," Alex muttered without stopping his walk, knowing that they wouldn't listen even if they could understand him. They continued their attack with only a minor hesitation, their minds apparently ravaged by the disease, making them unable to gauge their opponent's strength. Alex saw a mutant leap at him, her short, dull claws bared.

"Cute," he said with a smirk, thrusting a hand toward her. Black tendrils shot out from his torso and began to coat his arm, morphing and stretching it into something else entirely. By the time it touched her, sharp, two-foot-long claws had replaced his fingers, and she had no time to react. Neither did any of the others surrounding Alex, for that matter. In a blur of red and black, Alex's claws found their way into at least seven bodies, leaving behind more than twice as many pieces. He picked up the one that had been lucky (or unlucky) enough to trip over a jutting piece of rubble, and held him high. The creature emitted a series of guttural growls, before he too, was rent asunder. A series of tendrils reached out to his body, dismantling his biomass to fuel Mercer's strength. A few moments later, and a surprising amount of the carnage had been cleaned up.

But the Infected weren't smart enough to leave him be.

"Okay, I think that's enough," he said to no one in particular, morphing his arms to accommodate the crowd. Rather than claws on both arms, one arm was now black and snakelike, with three triangular blades on its tip. More than one voice in the back of his mind had taken to calling this weapon the "whipfist". He stretched this weapon, though not nearly as far as he could, and swept it horizontally across the crowd, sending a spray of red into the air and effectively cutting everyone visible in half. After bringing his arm back to its normal length, he looked around, but nothing else on this street moved.

Satisfied, he leapt to the building across the street and sprinted up the side of it, carelessly smashing brick and glass as he did so. He reached the top of the building and stopped, wondering for a moment where to go next, and what to do. But before he could decide, he heard a strange rumble from nearby. _Now, what could that be?_ Alex wondered, looking around as it steadily grew louder. A second later, the source of the noise caught his eye, a water tower, now coated in a reddish muck. He didn't have time to curse before it suddenly blew apart, revealing the hunter within. At eight feet tall, weighing in at nearly a ton, these things were more than a match for the average tank or helicopter.

But then, so was Alex Mercer. In less than two seconds, he had covered himself with a nearly-bulletproof shell, at the cost of some mobility, and transformed his right arm into an enormous blade, easily capable of cutting this ugly creature in half.

But he didn't get the chance, which genuinely upset him. A stream of bullets tore out of the sky, but only one hit anything living. The .50 caliber round punched a hole in his armor and his shoulder, and he looked behind him at the spatter of biomass that the bullet had taken from him. With a glance at the hunter, who was apparently divided between attacking the armed and armored man or the armed and armored helicopter, he absorbed his own armor back into his body and began putting extra strength into his legs.

That was all that both the hunter and the blackwatch soldiers within helicopter could have wanted. The hunter dove at him with all the agility of a mountain lion, and the helicopter let off a pair of heat-seeking missiles. _Couldn't have gone any better_, Alex thought as he leaped toward the helicopter. He had to leap again, jumping off of his own biomass, to dodge the missiles, but after he did that, they decimated the hunter, and he landed on the cockpit of the helicopter. The two men inside began to make panicked calls to their base, which would never send reinforcements in time.

Putting extra strength and biomass into his arms, he effortlessly tore off the entire door of the helicopter, and then proceeded to throw the nearest man out of it. The other pilot scrambled, whether to eject from the helicopter, find a weapon, or escape, Alex didn't know. The man's face met the windshield with surprising force, and his body slumped down in the corner.

"Now then," Alex said, cleaning off the windshield and molding his body to look just like one of the Blackwatch soldiers', "let's see what the military is up to today."


	2. Chapter 2 (Starkiller Intro)

"What would you have of me?" Darth Vader's secret apprentice asked on bended knee. His codename was Starkiller, and he had more than enough power to destroy Vader and his fleet of ships, but the thought didn't even cross his mind. Raised from childhood to kill, Starkiller's loyalty to the Empire was too strong for such thoughts to enter his mind.

"I have sensed a disturbance in the Force," Vader replied, staring out a large window, before the raspy breathing noise continued. This wasn't exactly news; Vader often sent Starkiller to collect this artifact or that object of immense power. Not expecting anything new, Starkiller continued to wait for Vader to continue, not even lifting his head to look at him.

Just as he expected, Vader continued, "The planet you will seek is more than a galaxy away. PROXY will brief you as you travel." Vader turned to look at him. "Do not fail me."

"Yes, Master," Starkiller replied. _Well, this _is_ new_, he thought, rising and making his way to his ship. _Outside of the galaxy?_ The look on his face didn't change; he still wore a stony mask of indifference. But the whole way, he couldn't help but ponder what he might encounter.

* * *

"Alright PROXY," Starkiller shouted as the doors to the Rogue Shadow opened and he entered, "what're you supposed to tell me?"

There wasn't an immediate response, and after a few seconds of silence, Starkiller readied his lightsaber, just in case anything could've gone amiss. A few seconds later, PROXY's robotic face appeared on a nearby com screen.

"Come to the training room, master," it said.

"PROXY, not now. What are you –" Starkiller managed to say before the screen went black. "Ugh," he grunted in frustration, turning his lightsaber off and putting it back on his belt.

"Calm down," a feminine voice said from nearby. He looked up to see Juno Eclipse, his personal pilot, seated at the front of the ship. "PROXY told me where we're going. I'll get us underway; you go and see what he wants."

"Thanks, Juno," he said, turning to his left to find the droid. He found it, just where it had said it would be.

"Master, it's time for your training," PROXY said as the ship shook from preparing to leave the larger ship.

"PROXY, we don't have time –" he said, before a series of holograms of crates appeared in the room. After a short delay, three men appeared, dressed as clone troopers.

"Defeat them," the droid said, backing away from the center of the room.

"Fine," Starkiller said, turning his lightsaber on with a smirk. _He wants to test me? Then let him test me._

As though someone had fired the starting pistol, Starkiller shot into action. He threw his lightsaber at the man to his right, impaling him in the chest. With a flick of his left wrist, a crate jumped from in front of the now-dying man to crush his comrade on the opposite side of the room. Starkiller spun counter-clockwise, stepping forward and blasting the only remaining man with a force push that nearly dented the wall behind him. Starkiller stood and held out his right hand, and his lightsaber returned to it immediately.

"Good," PROXY said. Of course, that wasn't the end of the training session.

Another three men appeared almost immediately, in almost the same places as before. But just as they appeared, the crates in the room disappeared. Once again, Starkiller handled the situation without a problem. With a dash to the man on his left, he brought his saber inches within his face and pointed the man's gun arm across the room. He made him fire two shots, then turned his wrist to bring his lightsaber into his chest. Quick as a flash, he swiped his left hand toward the man to his left, redirecting one of the bolts into his head. All three men collapsed to the floor at the same time.

"It's good to see you haven't weakened, master," PROXY said, stepping out of the shadows. It suddenly stood up straight, and its limbs locked up, and a hologram of a Jedi covered him, complete with a lightsaber. "But have you improved?" it asked with a much more human voice.

Starkiller didn't give an answer, diving at his opponent to end the battle quickly. His first two swipes were blocked, but when PROXY counterattacked, Starkiller ducked and blasted the ground with the force, knocking PROXY off of its feet. He lifted his stunned opponent off of the ground and slammed him back down, then swung it in a full circle before letting go, sending it crashing into the wall.

Somehow unhindered, PROXY brought up its lightsaber in time to block the lighting that Starkiller shot toward it. As soon as he stopped, PROXY leapt to its feet and dashed toward him once more. He merely lifted it off of the ground, planning to finish the battle quickly, but PROXY had other plans. With a minor repulse, PROXY broke Starkiller's grip on it and swung its lightsaber ferociously. Starkiller barely had time to bring his weapon up to block the attack.

The two continued to trade blows, most of PROXY's missing and quite a few of Starkiller's connecting, until PROXY finally slipped up and carelessly lunged. Starkiller parried, not with a saber, but with the force, and impaled the droid, barely breathing heavily from the exertion. After a few seconds of stillness, Starkiller felt the droid leaning heavily on him and just let it drop, turning off his saber.

"Stop being so dramatic," he said, watching as the hologram deactivated. Once it was gone, not a single dent or burn mark marred the droid's body.

"You _have_ improved," PROXY said, getting up slowly. "Now, then, would you like to be briefed?"

"Always straightforward," Starkiller said under his breath. "Of course I would."

"This way, then," it said, walking back into the cockpit where Juno waited. Starkiller followed.

"Alright, PROXY," he said, sitting casually in the nearest seat with his arms crossed, "what are we looking at here?"

Juno turned from facing forward to listen as well, having already gone into hyperspace.

"This is your objective," PROXY said, turning on another hologram. The man, once he appeared, wore strange clothes, without a hint of armor or weaponry. He wore a dark jacket over a brown hoodie over a white T-shirt, with jeans and sneakers on otherwise, but Starkiller didn't know what the clothing was called.

"No lightsaber?" he asked, unsure of whether Vader had been right.

"The planet appears to be far behind, technologically," PROXY explained in the person's voice.

"Oh, then this should be easy," he reasoned.

"We don't know very much about the planet, the people inhabiting it, or the target himself, except for a handful of names. The target calls himself 'Alex Mercer'."

"What about the planet?" Juno asked. "I mean, what is it called?"

"Checking..." PROXY said, stiffening. Starkiller couldn't help rolling his eyes as the droid checked some library somewhere.

"Data found: the planet is called Earth by those who inhabit it."


	3. Chapter 3: Landing

Hey, I got one review so far, which since this is pretty much hot-off-the-presses (I know its a bad idea, but I still have less errors than what I would think was the average) I'm happy with that. And, yeah, 1000 words per chapter is pretty much my goal.

* * *

Starkiller rose and walked to the cockpit windows as the ship came out of hyperspace. The blue and green planet below wasn't all too interesting, and he once again wondered whether Vader had been correct. He shook these thoughts away, though. His master hadn't been wrong yet.

"Do you know where to land?" he asked Juno.

"Yes," she replied without glancing up.

"Then take us in."

* * *

Meanwhile, in a Blackwatch base somewhere in New York, a man dressed in a lab coat sat in a rather uncomfortable chair, staring at a stream of data. His superior, Commander Allen, stood hovering over his shoulder, also looking at the data. _Not that he understands it_, the scientist thought. Suddenly noticing something amiss, he leaned forward and pointed a finger at the screen, reading faster than before.

"We've got a problem," he said, not taking his eyes off of the monitor.

"What sort of problem?" Commander Allen asked. Only a few other people in the room reacted to his statement, everyone else doing various jobs to fight the Blacklight virus.

"Well, sir, the supersoldiers don't seem to be taking to the serum –"

"WHAT?!" Allen exploded.

"Muscle mass is deteriorating, as are brain cell count, testosterone levels, red blood cell count, white blood cell count...I mean, you name it; they're falling apart."

"Well, then _fix it_!" Allen shouted into his face.

"Working on it," he replied, if only to appease his temperamental boss.

"Sir!" Someone shouted from across the room.

"Oh, _now _what?" Allen said angrily.

"Call from NASA. They want to speak with –"

"Oh, give me that," he said, snatching the phone from the man's hand. The scientist at his computer stopped what he was doing to listen to the conversation.

"Yeah, yeah, this is him," Allen said, annoyed. There was silence for a moment. "Well what does that have to do with _us_?" Silence once more. "I'm pretty sure space is _your_ jurisdiction...Oh, and I take it this thing is coming for New York, then...?" Allen sighed after a moment. "So, what am I supposed to do...Out of the question...Yes, I _would_ like to speak with..." During this period of silence, Allen's face gradually reddened from anger. "Yes, General. Understood..." Allen put the phone down none too gently.

"First this virus half destroys the city, now they expect me to deal with some kind of alien. 'Capture' he says."

"Orders, sir?" a soldier asked from the door.

"We've got to find ourselves an alien. I want birds in the air now! Eyes on the sky! If anyone sees anything unusual, they do _not_ have clearance to fire! Is that clear?!"

"Sir, yes sir!" the soldier shouted, saluting. After half a second, he turned and dashed out of the room.

* * *

Alex Mercer, standing on the other side of the door, heard every word. After watching the man run down the hallway to fulfill his orders, Alex began to go the other way, toward the landing pad. _I guess I'll see what all the hoopla is about_, he thought. _I mean, I can't let an alien destroy New York._

Five minutes later, and Mercer was in the air, far away from Commander Allen. Of course, he had to update his position every few minutes, just to keep from being blown out of the sky – apparently an alien threat put everyone on high alert. He kept his eyes on the sky, trying to make sure he'd be the first one to confront the creatures.

* * *

"Be careful," Juno called after Starkiller jumped from the boarding ramp to the short building below. He watched as the ramp closed and she took the ship back out of the planet's atmosphere.

"Eclipse to Starkiller," she said over his comm.

"Starkiller here. Everything's fine. Wait for me to call you."

"Right. Eclipse out."

Starkiller looked around cautiously, noting the buildings of varying size and shape. He heard growls from below and walked to the edge of the building and peered down. Below, grotesquely figured humanoids stumbled about, occasionally attacking something or someone.

"I sure hope those things aren't native here," he said. He noticed an abandoned taxi, and couldn't help a sigh. _They haven't learned flight yet?_

He heard a whirring behind him, and turned to see a form of aircraft coming toward the building he stood on. _Or, maybe they have figured flight out_. Reaching with the force, he felt thousands of minds and consciousnesses, and he wondered whether he'd found his target after all. The aircraft landed, and the door opened, and a man stepped out, apparently in some sort of military get-up. _This isn't the one I was looking for_, Starkiller thought.

* * *

_What's with the shiny suit?_ Alex thought, looking the person (if it was a person) over. Apart from his strange outfit, the man had some sort of silvery canister on his right hip. _If he wants to pick a fight_, Alex thought, _let's show him who he's fighting_. With that thought, Alex assumed his normal form, and an odd look of recognition mixed with surprise crossed the space-man's face.

"What's the matter?" Alex taunted. "Lost a fight with a garbage can?"

The man didn't respond, but he bent over, and put his hands on his right side. After a moment, the space between them began to distort and glow blue.

"What the h-" Alex managed to say, before the man threw his hands forward. A wave of blue shot toward Alex, and he couldn't get out of the way fast enough. It knocked him off of the building and against the next building's wall, and he fell forward, landing on his head against the building he'd been standing on.

* * *

"Alright, Juno. I think that's –" Starkiller said, before he saw Alex jump back to the top of the building in a single leap. He looked upset, and since his right arm had become a five-foot-long blade, Starkiller assumed he now meant business. Starkiller couldn't help a smile as he turned on his lightsaber and waited for the shapeshifter to make the first move.


	4. Chapter 4: Duel

_Oh, so now the space-man's got a sword made of light, is that it?_" Alex thought, watching him closely. He chuckled. _That might delay his death_.

Alex stomped the ground in front of him with enough force to crack the roof, but Starkiller didn't even flinch. Unbeknownst to him, Alex had sent a black tendril through the building, which would harden and impale him in less than a second. And if that didn't work...

The black spike shot from the ground, but the man had somehow sensed it coming, and he cut it in half before it could do any damage. Without retracting it into his body again, Alex dove toward the man and swung his own sword, but his light sword was the only thing he managed to hit when his target ducked under his swing.

Alex grunted in pain, repairing the singed part of his arm-blade and hardening the whole thing to resist the heat in the near future. But before he could even finish modifying the weapon, he felt searing heat punch a hole in his gut. In that instant, Alex had an idea. So, when the space-man pulled his sword out, Alex played dead and fell on his back, trying to make it convincing.

He heard a sigh. "Alright Juno, I think he's down. You might want to hurry, though; he could die if you take too long."

"Alright, Starkiller, I'm on my way. Just try to make sure he doesn't die, okay? Eclipse out."

_Starkiller_, Alex thought. _The name almost fits him_. Alex forced himself to keep his eyes closed as he pumped strength into his arms and legs. _One shot at this_, he reasoned. When he was sure that Starkiller was close, he abruptly slammed the ground with his arms, sending out a shockwave that knocked Starkiller into the air. Before Starkiller knew what was going on, Alex kicked with both legs, sending him clear across the street and over three buildings.

Alex jumped to his feet with a smile. _That went well_. He put a hand on his stomach, closing up the charred hole neatly. _I need some more biomass_, he thought, looking at the street below. Still, hundreds of infected stumbled along the street. _Nobody will miss them_, he thought, and he jumped off of the building.

Not thirty seconds later, he leapt to the top of the building across the street, where he'd last seen Starkiller. Suddenly, he felt the ground fall away as he was lifted into the air. He saw Starkiller to his right, holding his hands toward him. Alex once again used the whipfist, shooting his arm out toward Starkiller's leg. Quick as a flash, Starkiller cut off the end of the tentacle, but it continued forward, wrapping itself around his ankle and pulling hard. With Starkiller's concentration broken, Alex fell to the ground.

Alex got up quickly, and saw a glare of red coming toward him. He tried to dodge it, but the white-hot sword still cut his right arm off at the elbow. He shot an angry glare at Starkiller, whose face held a victorious smirk as his weapon returned to him. The smirk turned into a glare, though, when Alex reformed his hand and made both of his arms into claws. He barely heard Starkiller mutter a curse word as he dashed toward him once more.

Alex began to swipe at Starkiller's head with intense fury. He could see the concentration on his face as he dodged, ducked, and blocked, but while Alex was untiring, it seemed that Starkiller would never get tired, either. So, Alex switched his weapons. After Starkiller hopped backwards to try to get his bearings, Alex put a few tons' worth of matter into each hand, turning them into enormous, club-like masses. He couldn't swing half as fast, but after remaking his natural suit of armor, he wasn't too worried about getting hit.

The tactic seemed to work. Alex swung his fist upward, and Starkiller tried to block. The sheer weight of the weapon, though, sent his sword flying out of his hand, and Alex took his opportunity. He swung his left hand in an arc, narrowly missing Starkiller's head as he ducked, then swung his right arm vertically, smashing a hole in the roof where Starkiller had been moments before.

Starkiller was able to learn from the battle too, though. As soon as he had his sword back, he faced Alex and pointed his hands toward him again. Alex heard a rumbling, and he fell through the roof to his waist. Immediately, Starkiller bent over again, and the blue light appeared between his hands.

"Oh, no you don't," Alex muttered, reabsorbing his armor. Now thinner, he fell to the top floor of the building, just as a wave of blue took a large portion of the roof over his head away. Once it passed, Alex jumped back to the roof, shooting the whipfist at Starkiller. Just before it could hit him, Starkiller shot his hands forward, and lightning leapt from his fingers, making Alex's muscles tighten up and sending him to his knees.

Once again, the unseen force lifted him off of his feet, and he could see Starkiller approaching him arrogantly. Alex tried to use his whipfist again, remembering how well it worked the first time, but Starkiller saw it coming, and blasted him away with another wave of bluish light. Alex landed headfirst against the wall of an apartment building a block away, knocking a large hole in it.

"Okay, _that's_ it," he said angrily, getting up slowly. He brushed debris off of his shoulder and sprinted toward the hole he'd made, leaping right at the end to get back to the battle. Before he'd crossed the street, though, something hit his chest and exploded, knocking him into the same building he'd just exited, one floor higher than before. He lifted his head and saw a smoke trail that led from where the explosion had happened into the sky.

"Can't the Blackwatch stay out of anything?" he asked himself.


	5. Chapter 5: Mutual Enemies

Starkiller looked around at the helicopters that had suddenly surrounded him. Watching Mercer get blown out of the sky was satisfying, but he wasn't sure what these people wanted now. They were apparently some sort of law enforcement, but they didn't look quite the same as the grotesque creatures that shambled along the streets or Alex Mercer. _If these are native on this planet_, Starkiller thought, _then what the heck is wrong with the others?_

He continued to wonder what they wanted with him, when he heard a burst from one of the helicopters behind him. He turned around more slowly than usual, and before he knew it, a metallic net had pinned him to the ground. He was only a second away from throwing it off with a quick repulse, when electricity shot through it, paralyzing him to the ground helplessly.

Starkiller watched angrily, gritting his teeth against the pain, as one of the helicopters landed and a man stepped out. The man calmly walked toward him, a victorious smile across his face.

"We got him," the man said. "There wasn't even a struggle. Now, where do you want us to put it?"

There was a silence for a few moments, and Starkiller looked toward the building where Mercer had disappeared into. He saw rubble shifting, but when the man continued to talk, he turned his attention back to him.

"Alright, we'll be there soon. Be warned: codename ZEUS has shown interest in the target...Alright, Allen out."

By now, Starkiller had become almost used to the pain, in a numbing sort of way. Even so, he couldn't use any of his force powers, and his lightsaber was just inches out of his grasp. Once again, he could only watch as two more helicopters landed and men ran out toward him. While they connected lines from their aircrafts to the net, the one who called himself Allen got back in his helicopter and flew away.

Without warning, Starkiller heard a battle cry from nearby. Alex Mercer, now recovered from the blast, was flying fast toward one of the helicopters. He landed on its tail, cutting off a good portion of the back of it to destabilize it, then he leapt away from it with all the strength he could muster, sending it spinning into another helicopter. The two fell to the ground below in a mangled heap, probably killing a few of the mutated creatures below.

Starkiller took advantage of the surprise, channeling what little power he could to redirect, rather than absorb, the electricity in one of his arms. It worked a little. He reached slowly toward his weapon, but the men who'd been surrounding him were rushing back to their helicopters. Starkiller heard another explosion, presumably caused by Mercer, and he tried to concentrate harder, and came a little closer to his lightsaber. At this point, he could touch it, but he couldn't quite close his hand around it.

The helicopters started to lift off, and Starkiller's mind and body begged him to give up. _Just...a...little...more..._ he thought. With a momentous effort, he stretched his hand out another inch and managed to close his hand around his lightsaber. Not a moment too soon, for the instant he did, the edges of the net suddenly pulled together, and Starkiller was inverted and hoisted into the air, dangling between two helicopters, the electricity more than beginning to heat up the net.

Without warning, a missile shot one of the two helicopters out of the sky. Starkiller could hear panic from the one remaining as he finally managed to turn on his lightsaber. The angle it sat at made it cut into his leg a little, but with a twist of his wrist, Starkiller cut a hole big enough that he tumbled out of the net. His muscles still stunned from the sheer amount of energy that went through his body, Starkiller could barely soften his landing enough not to aggravate his injured leg. He could watch, though, as another missile blew the helicopter that had been holding him out of the sky, and he could watch as it fell to a building below, blowing a large hole in the ceiling.

_Now, why would they shoot their own?_ Starkiller wondered, turning to look at the one remaining helicopter. Alex Mercer sat behind the controls, and he didn't look like he'd finished shooting at things. _Crud_, Starkiller thought, but instead of shooting, Alex landed the aircraft.

"Explain something to me," he said once he'd walked over to where Starkiller lay. He didn't have any weapons or armor visible, but he still sounded ticked, so Starkiller didn't know what to prepare for. Nevertheless, he kept his lightsaber on. Alex continued, "Why are you here? And why are the Blackwatch interested in you?"

"Blackwatch?" Starkiller asked.

"Well, they're a little like cockroaches, but with much better weapons. But you didn't answer either of my questions. Blackwatch was started to fight the Blacklight virus. Why should they care about an alien attack?" he asked. Starkiller couldn't tell for sure, but it seemed like he was hiding something, like he already knew the answer.

Starkiller was quiet for a while. _Blacklight? That must be what's wrong with the people below_. "How do I know I can trust you?" he asked.

"You mean, apart from my having just saved your life?" Alex asked.

"You didn't save anyone," Starkiller challenged, finally feeling the strength to stand, despite his injured leg. All-in-all, it wasn't much, and his own sword had cauterized the wound. . "I got out myself."

"It sure didn't look like it. But if you're so confident, you'll have your chance to prove it," Alex said, pointing. In the distance, another group of helicopters could be seen. Starkiller counted ten.

"What are you –" he tried to ask, but when he looked over at Alex, a Blackwatch soldier stood where he'd been a moment before.

"Good luck," the man said, with Alex's exact voice.

He proceeded to walk to the other side of the building, and he just sat down, apparently amused.

_Vader will not be pleased if I return empty-handed_, Starkiller thought, preparing his mind and body for a battle. The numbing effects of the electricity were almost completely gone. _But this guy could be infected with the Blacklight virus. If it devastated this town so much, maybe bringing it back isn't a good idea_.

* * *

Sorry for the somewhat anticlimactic ending, but when my mind says "that's how it happened", I shut up and type.


	6. Chapter 6: The Force

Well, in case it needs to be said, no, I didn't create either Prototype or Star Wars, or any characters or settings described therein. The only original character here is Commander Allen. Well, along with the hordes of unnamed mooks.

Anyway, I love to see the reviews of how I'm doing, but I wish the reviews had more information on how to better my writing; while it's good to read "I LOVE THIS!", I'd also like tips. I'm not perfect, after all.

Oh, and I may not be able to update daily, because I'm working on a full novel, with all-original characters and concepts.

* * *

Alex watched Starkiller prepare to fight the Blackwatch on his own, almost glad that they weren't trying to get him anymore. Before they got too close, he turned onto his side and held his leg, pretending to be seriously hurt so that the other Blackwatch wouldn't see anything amiss.

"Target sighted," Alex heard from nearby. He looked toward the source and saw a mangled heap of metal that had once been a helicopter. The radio squawked from inside, and Alex pulled himself closer slowly, still acting injured.

"Firing," he heard, and a missile dropped from one of the helicopters. After falling a short way, it shot forward toward Starkiller.

"No, no, no! Idiots! Our orders are to capture it!" someone shouted over the radio. Arguments erupted, and Alex couldn't hear anything over the cacophony. He watched the missile get closer, but Starkiller didn't even flinch. He raised his hand toward it, and it quickly came to a stop. The radio went silent. Starkiller brought his hand back to his chest, and then extended it again, and the missile turned and shot back toward the helicopter that had fired it.

Alex watched the missile hit the base of the helicopters rotors, and he knew right away that the vehicle was ruined. The radio came alive again with panicked shouts from the men in the falling aircraft, until it hit the streets below.

"Sir, requesting permission to fire," one man said, evidently a pilot.

"Denied! I was told to capture it, and that's what we're going to do," the leader said.

"Sir, it just blew Echo Niner out of the sky!" someone else shouted.

"Hold your fire! If you shoot, I will see to it that you're put on Infected Control!"

"Sir, whatever it is, it is not a friendly. I suggest –"

"As long as I'm in the sky, we will continue our mission!"

"With all due respect, sir," one man began, before finishing his statement with a loud curse. A hail of bullets shot from the foremost helicopter, but most of them missed Starkiller. One glanced off of the plate of metal on his shoulder, barely scratching it. Others that might have hit him were stopped mere feet from his upraised fist. He let them harmlessly fall to the ground after a few seconds.

"Sir, what is this thing?" one man asked. His query dissolved into pained shouts when the helicopter suddenly began to collapse in on itself. Starkiller held one hand in the air, and he was slowly closing it. Once the helicopter was nothing but a heap of metal, he swung his arm to the right and shot it into another helicopter, blowing it out of the sky.

"Fire the net!"

True to the apparent leader's words, a net shot from one of the helicopters, opening in mid-air and flying directly toward Starkiller. He merely swept his hand over his head, and the net flew much too far to do the soldiers any good. Alex watched it fly toward him instead, and he couldn't help cursing his luck.

Thinking quickly, Alex elbowed the roof, cracking it and making a few chunks rise around his arms. In a blur, he grabbed the corner of a jutting piece of rooftop and held it straight up, curling his legs in at the same time. When the net descended, it landed on the rubble and made a dangerous canopy of sparks and metal. Alex quickly turned his attention back to Starkiller, hoping that his disguise hadn't been ruined.

Starkiller was flying fast toward the group of helicopters, a circle of red light a short distance ahead of him. The sword hit first, severing a helicopter's connection with its rotors and sending both to the ground like a sack of rocks. Starkiller somehow stopped himself in mid-air right in front of one of the vehicles, and the same blue light and distortion appeared around both of his hands. As his sword returned, it cut a deep gouge second helicopter, but not too much that the pilot couldn't land it safely. By the time it reached him again, Starkiller had hit the helicopter with enough force to nearly turn it inside-out, and it hit the corner of a building hard. With a quick twist and a mid-air dash, Starkiller grabbed onto one of the last four airborne helicopters, and Alex saw him lean to his right.

"Now, what's he hope that'll do?" Alex asked aloud. He saw what Starkiller intended before long, though. Soon enough, the helicopter began to spin around Starkiller, slowly at first, but soon it was little more than a blur of metal. Without warning, Starkiller let go, and the helicopter flew away from him, destroying the tail of one helicopter and hitting another head-on. The two merged into one unit from the impact and fell, while the other damaged vehicle followed more slowly.

It almost managed to land, but one of its skids hit the edge of the building, and combined with the velocity of its spinning, the helicopter teetered off of the edge of the six-story-tall building, two of its crew jumping out before they fell with it.

Starkiller still didn't slow down. With another dash, he landed on the side of the only airborne helicopter and calmly stuck his lightsaber into the blur of the rotors. Four spinning blades shot out and embedded themselves in a nearby skyscraper, and Starkiller leapt to the nearest rooftop.

"Mayday! Mayday!" the radio shouted just over Alex's head. "Requesting support! Get me a strike pack–"

The man couldn't finish his request when his craft hit the ground and went up in a ball of flames. Starkiller made his way back to Alex with a confident smirk.

"Mind helping me up?" Alex asked, keeping his Blackwatch disguise on. He noticed a man dressed as a commander climbing out of the only craft that had managed to land safely.

"You'll figure something out," Starkiller countered. "I need to get going."

"So, what, you're just going to leave?"

"That's the plan."

"What did you even come here for?"

"You."

The revelation hit Alex like a brick – which, for a virtually bulletproof virus, isn't saying much. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"My master knows you're powerful."

"Your 'master'? Wow. Sounds like a bad fantasy. But if you think you can abduct me –"

"I'm not taking anyone back."

"What? Hold on, try to make sense, Mr. Alien guy."

"Whatever this 'Black light' virus is, whatever devastated this town...I don't want to threaten the galaxy with it."

"'Threaten the galaxy'? While it sure sounds fun and all to cause chaos and destruction on an interplanetary scale, it also sounds like it's straight out of a comic book."

Starkiller turned away from Alex without another word and began to walk away. "Juno, change of plans. We're not picking anyone up. Just come down here and – GAAH!" Starkiller shouted, suddenly hit with thousands of volts of electricity. Alex saw a line wrapped around him extending out of view.

"Not so tough now, are ya?" the Commander asked. Alex finally recognized the voice as Commander Allen, from earlier that day. Allen walked slowly toward Starkiller, who fell to the ground in a heap. "You've killed too many of my men, and I can only repay the favor."

Alex watched him pull out a pistol, and an idea occurred to him. He immediately let the rubble he was holding fall to his chest, and splayed his limbs like he had been injured.

"Nobody is around to wonder," Allen said, pointing the gun at Starkiller's head, "They'll think you died while we were defending ourselves."


	7. Chapter 7: Blackwatch

Well, a few favorites and a few follows make me a happy writer. If it weren't for those, this part would be delayed a little more...but it also might've been better...

Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts. And yes, I try to take a more serious standpoint in my writing. Breaking the fourth wall isn't something I do...unless combining two separate stories counts...

...AND THEY'RE OFF!

* * *

"Sir!" Alex shouted, modulating his voice like the Blackwatch's helmets do. Allen lifted his gun and looked over to Alex.

"What happened here?" Allen asked. He didn't let up on the electricity or holster his gun.

"Helicopter...went down. I was...trapped...," Alex stammered, trying to make it believable.

"Well, at least someone's still alive," he said, pushing something attached to his forearm. The buzzing coming from the metallic net stopped, and Alex slowly pushed the rock off of himself, making sure not to use anywhere near his full strength. When that was out of the way, he freed himself from the net and walked toward Allen.

"Get back to base," he said gruffly.

"Sir?"

"You have your orders. Get moving."

"But sir, the streets are swarming with Infected. And you'll need to get him airlifted back to base anyway."

Allen turned and pointed the gun at Alex's forehead, unaware that a bullet would do no good. "I said get back to base. This man died while we defended ourselves. All of your comrades are dead; do you want to join them?"

"Are you suggesting that I disobey orders?"

"Whose orders? My own?"

"No, sir. My orders came from higher up than you. I'm not leaving without him."

"Well, then I'm afraid I have no further use for you," Allen said with a somewhat disappointed glare. Alex felt the searing pain through his head as the bullet passed through, but as far as he was concerned, his plan was working fairly well.

_The problem with those stun batons_, Alex thought as he fell back, _is that they don't have much of a charge_. _But the even worse problem is that they only work on one target at a time_.

"Now that that's done," Allen began, no doubt pointing the gun at Starkiller's head once more.

"Why did you do that, sir?" Alex asked through the com system.

"Who's there?!" Allen shouted. Through his helmet, Alex saw that Allen had turned his back, and slowly rose to his feet, making sure the hole in his forehead hadn't healed. He cracked his neck, and Allen spun around to look him in the eye, and his face went three shades whiter.

"What are you?" he asked. Alex smirked. He was happy to answer his question, so he shifted back into his normal form. "ZEUS," Allen whispered. He shot another three times, but when the bullets did nothing more than make Alex flinch, he began to back away. He glanced toward Starkiller, and Alex could almost see the question in his eyes. Should he use the dwindling electricity to fight Alex or hold Starkiller in place? With his numerous minds working more-or-less together, Alex knew what his decision would be. So when Allen aimed the pistol back at Starkiller, Alex was already reaching to take the gun from him with the whipfist.

The gun went off, sending a bullet into Alex's foot. By the time Allen knew what was happening, his pistol had been divided into three pieces and lay harmlessly on the ground. Still not admitting defeat, Allen drew the long cord back into his staff and jabbed the other end into Alex's chest, putting all electricity out that end. It was enough that Alex could feel the tingling all the way down to his toes, but not enough to make him unable to react. He reached forward and grabbed Allen's staff, squeezing it in the middle hard enough to break it, and Allen backed away again.

"Well, I've still got one more weapon," he said, putting his right hand behind his back. He shot that hand forward a moment later, and a reddish cloud shot into Alex's face. Whatever it was, it worked. Searing pain shot through his entire body, and he could almost feel the flesh on his face disintegrating. He hopped back and turned away, wondering what the stuff was.

"It's called Bloodtox. Something the science boys have been working on. Hurts, doesn't it? We're going to ship this stuff out to the entire city. It'll be everywhere. And there's nothing you can – urgh!" he shouted as Starkiller effortlessly threw him across the building.

"Thanks," Alex said as the pain slowly subsided.

"Is everything on this planet that annoying?" Starkiller asked.

"Not exactly. Most of them die when you want them to."

"You're one to talk."

"And you're welcome, by the way," Alex said.

"For what?"

"Stalling him. If I didn't help you, you'd be dead now. And I think by the time he attacked me, the electricity was too weak to stop your magic."

"Magic?"

"Whatever it is."

"The force is more than just magic. It's –"

"Yeah, I don't need your lesson. Just say 'thanks'."

Starkiller didn't say it.

"So, what's with the sword?"

"It's a lightsaber," he replied, picking his up off of the ground. "They're only given to a few people."

"So, what are the chances I could get one?"

"You need to be a Sith. Or a Jedi."

"So...that's a 'no'?"

"Why are you still here?"

"Oh, just wondering if you wanted help fighting those guys," Alex said, gesturing into the distance. Less than a mile away, a few more helicopters were coming toward them, and on the ground, tanks were rolling their way. Behind the tanks, crowds of soldiers were running. "It seems like Blackwatch is pulling out all the stops to kill you. Or me. Actually, it could be both of us."

"Do you know how to get rid of these guys?" Starkiller asked.

"Well, I normally blend in with them. If they can't find a target, they go away. But as for you, you could get your space ship to kill them all, right?"

"You mean, get me off of this planet?"

"Oh. Yeah. That's what I meant," Alex replied. His sarcasm wasn't caught.

"Alright, Juno. Get me out of here," Starkiller said into his own com.

"Hey," Alex said. Starkiller glanced at him. "I bet I can take out more than you."

"What? Is this some kind of game?"

"No, it isn't. But I get it. That's what I'd say if I thought I'd lose."

"What?"

"Oh, it's perfectly fine. You can go home and hide while I do all the work."

"I'm perfectly capable of fending for myself."

"Oh, yeah, but I had to save your life."

"Y'know what? You're on," Starkiller said before leaping toward the small army. Another of Alex's plans was going well. If Starkiller died, he could consume him and become that much stronger. If Starkiller didn't die, the Blackwatch would be that much weaker. It was a win-win situation.

"Then let's go," Alex said with a smirk, sprinting after Starkiller.


	8. Alternate Ending A (replaces Chapter 7)

Alright, so apparently at least one person (Mojtaba13) wasn't satisfied with chapter 7 in its current state. They say Alex shouldn't have spared either Allen or Starkiller. I don't like to disappoint, so here's how it _could_ have happened.

Note: This part doesn't take into account anything past chapter 6. So disregard chapter 7, and anything past it.

* * *

"Sir!" Alex shouted, modulating his voice like the Blackwatch's helmets do. Allen lifted his gun and looked over to Alex.

"What happened here?" Allen asked. He didn't let up on the electricity or holster his gun.

"Helicopter...went down. I was...trapped...," Alex stammered, trying to make it believable.

"Well, at least someone's still alive," he said, pushing something attached to his forearm. The buzzing coming from the metallic net stopped, and Alex slowly pushed the rock off of himself, making sure not to use anywhere near his full strength. When that was out of the way, he freed himself from the net and walked toward Allen.

"Get back to base," he said gruffly. Alex didn't respond. "Did you hear me? I said, get back to – urk!" Allen said, before looking down at the blade he suddenly found himself impaled upon. Alex dug it in deeper, and then abruptly pulled it out, spinning and cutting deep into Allen's head with the smaller blade on his elbow. Repeating what he'd previously done with the Infected below, he consumed and absorbed Allen completely, and the electric staff fell to the ground.

The flood of memories he'd gotten from him wasn't anything he was new to. He'd consumed military men before, but none yet with the clearance that Commander Allen had had. Because of that, he knew that Allen had already called in a strike team, and a few tanks, to make sure neither he nor Starkiller made it out alive. _Well, one of us will_, he thought, glancing down at Starkiller, who wasn't convulsing any more. He grabbed him by the throat and held him high, regarding him as a predator regards its defeated prey.

Panicking, Starkiller pushed his hand toward Alex, but the electricity kept him from putting out any serious amount of force. Next, his hand went to his belt, but his weapon wasn't there. Instead, it was lying on the ground nearby. With one final attempt, Starkiller grabbed Alex's wrist and electrocuted it, but once again, he wasn't yet strong enough to do much. Even so, the electricity he did managed only made Alex strengthen his hold on him, so he stopped it in short order.

Alex smirked and pumped mass into both of his hands, turning them once again into two-ton boulders. He cupped one massive hand around Starkiller's head, and he brought the other one all the way around behind him. As he brought his fist forward, he saw the look of defeat in Starkiller's eyes. It was a look he'd seen many times, and through the creatures he'd consumed, he'd even given that look. But the look disappeared in an explosion of red, and Alex consumed him quickly.

This time, the rush of memories was unlike anything he'd experienced. His hands returned to normal and went to his own head, and he fell to his knees as a life flashed before his eyes. He saw an army of men dressed in white armor, falling before him as he threw, pushed, and electrocuted them. He saw Juno, and felt the feelings that Starkiller had had toward her. And he saw a tall man, dressed completely in black. _Darth Vader_, a voice told him, _my master_.

And then he felt it. The force. He'd foolishly thought it was just magic, but with the memories of one so gifted in the force, he realized how wrong he'd been. The force was much more, but he didn't focus on describing it. What Alex was more concerned about was what he could do now that he couldn't do before.

He opened his eyes and stood up, in his normal form. He spied Starkiller's sword – a lightsaber, he knew now – and extended his hand toward it. With a mere thought, it leapt to his hand like it was alive. He heard the helicopters of the strike team approaching, and while he knew he'd have plenty of time to get away, he also wanted to test his new power. If a few people got hurt in the process, oh well.

He raised a hand toward one of the vehicles, and he could almost feel it from so far away. He felt like it was a pile of putty in his hand, and he clenched his fist. Not a half second later, the helicopter was smashed and compressed into a tight ball of metal. He swiped his hand to the right, and the ball smashed another helicopter. _I've already seen Starkiller use brute force_, Alex reasoned, _but I can do better_.

Reaching into the memories of the people he'd consumed, he found out everything about the vehicles attacking him. With Starkiller's knowledge of the force, he was able to focus on one of the vehicles, and loosen or break just a few important bolts before it fell to the ground. With another thought, he managed to punch a hole in the fuel tank of a different helicopter and spark it with the vehicle's own electricity.

As the remaining vehicles continued to approach, Alex looked toward the sky. _So much I never knew_, he thought with a smirk, _and so much that I still need to know_.

-later-

Alex walked into the room where Vader was waiting in the guise of Starkiller. He approached slowly, planning on taking the element of surprise and killing Vader before he could react. But the dark lord apparently knew something was amiss, because Alex felt himself lifted from the ground and carried away from him, something constricting his throat. Fortunately, he didn't need air.

"You thought you could sneak up on me?" Vader asked. Alex didn't respond, and didn't struggle or grab at his throat. Alex's non-reaction to the choking would be enough to unnerve ordinary men, but Vader wasn't ordinary.

"You were wrong. And you will serve me."

"We'll see," Alex said, throwing the whipfist at Vader. He was unprepared, as Starkiller had been, but even when Alex cut his right arm off at the elbow, he still didn't drop him. But that's when Alex used the force. While freeing himself from Vader's grasp, he latched onto Vader with the whipfist and shocked him while bringing him forward.

Unlike Starkiller, Vader was able to move while being electrocuted, and he managed to cut off Alex's arm before he was brought too close. But to Alex, the battle was over. He formed one arm into a blade, and the other into the hammer-fist. When Vader saw him, he walked calmly forward and tried to make the first strike. But Alex caught the blade with his hammerfist, grimacing as it slowly cut into him, and pushed his blade through Vader's undefended chest.

As Alex consumed Darth Vader, and gained his memories, the flood once again forced him to his knees, but it wasn't as much new information as before. He found out a lot, nevertheless, and there was at least one thing that he was certain of. As Alex rose to his feet and left the room, he let a smirk come across his face. There was nothing that could stand in his way. He was now the most powerful being in the universe.

* * *

I don't mind making alternate endings. If you have the beginnings of an idea, feel free to tell me. And yeah, since I made one where Alex dominated, I'll probably make one where Starkiller wins.


	9. Chapter 8: Keeping Score

Starkiller watched as Alex sped ahead of him, wondering why he let himself get goaded into a competition. Part of him wanted revenge against the Blackwatch for nearly killing him, but if the Blackwatch really were fighting the Blacklight virus, killing them probably wasn't the greatest idea. Fortunately, Vader had removed the burden of morality, for the most part, so Starkiller didn't really think twice about it.

Alex made it to the tanks first, digging his right arm, which was now a blade, into the top. A half second later, the tank fired, and Alex caught the shell with his left arm, now a tentacle-like appendage, and slung it at a second tank.

"That's two!" Alex shouted, apparently enjoying himself.

Starkiller shook his head and stopped running, bracing himself on the rooftop he'd stopped on. He put up his hands and started to focus, and crushed a helicopter in mid-air. But he didn't stop there. He quickly managed to bring another helicopter, and then another into the pile, and after it exploded a few times, threw the whole thing into the crowd of foot soldiers.

"You still keeping track?" he asked, hardly winded at all.

"I'll count that as 'five'," Alex said, leaping to the side of a building with a gun strapped to his back. While hanging onto the side of the building, he whipped it forward and shot with uncanny accuracy, felling a man with each shot.

"Then _that_ only counts as six," Starkiller countered. He heard a tank fire, and stopped its shell with a wave of his hand. With a thrust, he shot it back at the tank, blowing a hole in its armor. Before he could react, a hail of bullets from a pair of helicopters hit the roof around his feet. Reaching once more toward the tank, he lifted it off the ground. Realizing how slowly it was moving, he let it go, braced his feet again, and focused more clearly, throwing the entire tank through the air. It landed on top of one of the helicopters, and Alex shot lightning at the other, holding it long enough to ensure the vehicle's crash.

After taking a breath, Starkiller looked over at where Alex had been. A chunk had been blown out of the wall, and now, Alex was amidst the soldiers, wreaking havoc with claws and his suit of armor.

"He'll win, at this rate," Starkiller thought aloud. He looked around, and his eyes caught on the skyscraper that was casting a shadow over most of the troops. "Hmmm..." he hummed with a smirk.

* * *

Alex had been enjoying himself. The most accurate of the Blackwatch's bullets hardly made it through his armor, and if they didn't hit him directly, they glanced off of it. A part of him wondered why he hadn't just killed Starkiller earlier, but he still wasn't sure whether more would follow if he didn't return. If everything in space had his kind of power, Alex wasn't certain he could take them all on, much less protect his sister. Even worse, Starkiller could just be a scout; perhaps someone existed even more powerful than him.

Alex's mind was brought back to the moment when he heard the sound of metal wrenching out of place, glass breaking, and stone crumbling. He looked toward the source of the sound, and did a double-take. The building that had made the sound was clearly leaning toward him, and he almost didn't believe his eyes. With a quick glance around, he saw Starkiller, in the same place as he was before, holding out his hands toward the building.

"Oh, come on," Alex said, before leaping to the side of a nearby building. With another two leaps, he'd made it to safety, and just a few seconds later, the building smashed the ground, burying most of the soldiers and pummeling almost all of the rest.

Alex leapt to the building where Starkiller stood, and climbed to the top. Once there, he just stared at Starkiller.

"What?" Starkiller asked.

"I didn't think I had to specify: Don't destroy New York!" he shouted. Starkiller shrugged casually.

"I still won, didn't I?"

"But you didn't even kill anyone with your sword," Alex said. Starkiller looked out toward one last retreating helicopter that was now suddenly separated from its rotors. He held out his hand, and the red light-sword returned.

"I hate you," Alex said sarcastically.

"Is that all of them?" Starkiller asked.

"No. They never stop coming. But you should probably leave. Being from space, you might get more than just the Blackwatch chasing you."

"Just like that? You aren't even going to try to kill me again?"

"Wasn't planning on it," Alex said, walking away. "And I'm not one for good-byes," he finished, hopping to the ground.

Alex stuck around near the base of the building for a bit. After a short while, he heard what must've been Starkiller's ship landing, and listened to it taking off again. He climbed quickly to the roof, and watched it go. It didn't just fly up, though. He watched as it flew toward one of the Blackwatch bases and began to blast it with some kind of laser cannon. Alex just shook his head.

"Show off."

* * *

Starkiller knelt down behind Darth Vader some time afterwards, awaiting the punishment that would surely ensue. He had his reasons for leaving Alex behind, and he'd explained them, but Vader had yet to react.

"You've returned empty-handed," Vader said without a hint of emotion.

"Master –"

"You've failed," Vader said, turning and lifting Starkiller into the air by his throat.

"The...virus..."

"I've no need for excuses. I commanded you to return with him, but instead you left him unharmed. Fortunately for you..." he said, dropping Starkiller, "...I still have a use for you."

Starkiller once again knelt before Vader. "What would you have of me...master?"

* * *

Well, I hope you liked that ending. Although, I doubt it...I mean, it probably should've gone on longer than it did...but I have other story ideas, and I don't like to start something else before finishing a project. Anyway, I'll have more alternate endings coming soon, but they probably won't be more than about 1,000 words each. And yeah, in case I wasn't clear enough, this is the end. If you have a better ending, type it up and PM me. I'll add it in a new chapter, and I'll give you all of the credit.

And for those of you who've followed me as an author, I'll have another story coming out soon. I don't know how long it'll be, or how often I'll update it, though.


	10. Alternate Ending B (replaces Chapter 5)

I made one alternate ending, so I couldn't help _not_ making a second. Since I just updated my other story with Chapter 3, I think this is the time to come up with number 2. This will most likely end up being alternate _beginning_...no, alternate storyline number...two? I don't know; I just throw these together, and people tell me that they're good.

Note: This part takes the place of "Chapter 5: Mutual Enemies" and beyond. As with any other alternate ending, disregard anything past that point.

Note 2: Taking the Blacklight virus into space would ordinarily be a bad idea. Due to the potential repercussions of that action, this may take more than one part to tell. But, hey, I may just leave that up to your imagination.

* * *

Starkiller looked around at the helicopters that had suddenly surrounded him. Watching Mercer get blown out of the sky was satisfying, but he wasn't sure what these people wanted now. They were apparently some sort of law enforcement, but they didn't look quite the same as the grotesque creatures that shambled along the streets or Alex Mercer. _If these are native on this planet_, Starkiller thought, _then what the heck is wrong with the others?_ Since the helicopters didn't land, he didn't think that they simply wanted to chat, and he turned his lightsaber back on and readied his mind for another battle.

He heard a burst from the helicopter behind him, and spun quickly, shooting a pulse of energy at the helicopter. It had fired a net at him, but the push he gave it sent it back onto the helicopter, and the metal mesh became tangled in the helicopter's rotors. It didn't take long for the aircraft to fall from the sky, and Starkiller was already attacking the others. A throw of his lightsaber was enough to disable two helicopters: one by removing its rotors entirely, and another by slicing the entire cockpit in half; and with a leap into the air, he brought his limbs in and began to pull energy toward himself. A few uncertain seconds passed for everyone else while Starkiller prepared the repulse, but when he unleashed it, he heard glass shattering, cries of pain, the vehicles' warning alarms, and yet another thud from the building Mercer had flown into.

"Juno," he said into his com. "Get down here."

He took a few steps toward the building across the street, which now had three holes in its wall. Mercer appeared in one of them, and leapt out at Starkiller. Unsurprised, Starkiller grabbed him, and held him still.

"I've got it."

Mercer's arm began to turn black once again, and Starkiller immediately let go. Instead, he ripped a chunk of the roof off of the building, and threw it at Mercer. The slab of rubble continued forward, hitting the wall of the damaged building and cracking into several pieces. Starkiller heard the Rogue Shadow approaching, and pulled Mercer from the wall. Instead of giving him a chance to react, Starkiller threw him through a nearby building, catching him as he flew out the other side. And when he was dazed enough, Starkiller braced himself, pulled up a few more chunks from the ceiling, and encased Mercer in them.

"Even you'll have a hard time getting out of that," Starkiller said as his ride landed.

* * *

Starkiller bent in front of Vader once again, some time later. In a large metal capsule, Alex Mercer stood, glaring out from inside. The small, durable window was scratched on the inside, revealing Mercer's poor attempts at escape. And Vader stood looking at his new trophy.

"You have done well," he told Starkiller.

"He appears to be infected with something," Starkiller said.

"He is from a dying planet. And he is not a victim of the disease."

"What?"

"His mind is twisted, his essence, ravaged. This creature is only a pile of corpses that doesn't know it's dead."

Alex chose that moment to hit the small window with his fist, which had turned into a chunk of dense matter. A tiny crack finally appeared, his previous attempts apparently having weakened the capsule. He swung two more times, until a piece of the window fell out, and then a sharpened tentacle shot out at Vader. Instead of avoiding it or fighting back, Vader merely caught the tentacle. It pierced his hand, but retreated after receiving a shock from the robotic limb. It came back for another strike, when a small force field appeared in front of the window, cutting it off. As soon as it hit the ground, it dissolved into a puddle.

"How do we kill something that's already dead?" Starkiller asked.

"I still have a use for it," Vader said. "It may be impossible to kill, and even if it cannot be controlled...it is a weapon to be feared."

"Who should be made to fear it first?" Starkiller asked with a smirk.

* * *

Ehh, so the ending's a bit anticlimactic...but you get the idea, right? Mercer lost this time, Galen took him to space, and Vader doesn't have any limbs that aren't robotic. Did I miss anything?


End file.
